About this Book

Book Summary

This hilarious and heartwarming novel reminds us that nothing is stronger than the bonds of family (ages approx 9+).

It's back to school for the start of a new term, and the eccentric
Cassons are up to their old tricks!

Indigo, having just recovered from a bout of mononucleosis, must return to
school after missing an entire semester. Only his younger sister and loyal
sidekick, Rose, knows why he's dreading it so much. As it turns out, the school
bullies are eagerly awaiting Indigo's return so that they can pick up where they
left off -- flushing his head in the toilet. But Indigo hasn't counted on
meeting Tom, an American student who is staying with his grandmother in England
for the year. With his couldn't-care-less attitude and rock-and-roll lifestyle,
Tom becomes Indigo's ally, and together they work to take back the school.

Meanwhile, eight-year-old Rose is desperately trying to avoid wearing
horrible glasses, nineteen-year-old Caddy is agonizing over her many suitors,
Saffy is working overtime with her best friend, Sarah, to protect Indigo from
the gang, and with their father, Bill, in London at his art studio, their
mother, Eve, is just trying to stay on top of it all!

In this hilarious, heartwarming companion to her award-winning Saffy's Angel,
Hilary McKay shows us a new side of the Cassons and reminds us that nothing is
stronger than the bonds of family.

Chapter One

For the first time in his life Indigo Casson had been properly ill. He had
flu, and instead of getting better, it got worse and turned into infectious
mononucleosis.

"Mono?" asked his disbelieving classmates. "Or scared
stiff?"

Somewhere, at the back of his head, Indigo wondered the same thing. However,
it really was mono. He grew very ill indeed, quite quickly. Even at the worst of
his illness though, a part of Indigo sighed with relief. A part of him thought,
Phew!

At first it was quite exciting for his family,

having Indigo so ill. Anyone who asked any of the Cassons, "How's
Indigo?" received a very long answer. A much too long answer, with lots of
details most people would rather not know about.

Luckily, this stage did not last very long. Indigo's illness stopped being
news and became a fact of life. When people said, "How's Indigo?" his
family answered, "Fine," and talked of more interesting things. This
was not because they did not care ...

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

Media Reviews

Publishers Weekly

The initial interaction between Indigo and Tom rings
curiously hollow, but the situation reverses itself as their rapport deepens.
Fans will be hoping for another installment in this memorable family's
adventures. Ages 8-12.

School Library Journal - Marie Orlando

Gr 5-8-While the story may be somewhat short on plot and a
bit facile in its treatment of the issue of bullying, McKay's sly humor, deft
characterization, and brisk pacing more than compensate. Readers will love
revisiting the chaotic but loving Casson household.

Kirkus Reviews

It might be eight-year-old Rose who steals readers' hearts in McKay's delightful
companion to Saffy's Angel....Plot threads and characters mesh satisfyingly-and,
as ever, McKay's dialogue, the novel's essence, is brilliant. Readers submerged
in the happy din of the family's conversations will wish they could be adopted
by the Cassons. (Fiction. 8-12)

Booklist - Gillian Engberg

Starred Review. Gr. 5-8. McKay's
portrayal of absent-minded mother Eve occasionally veers into a caricature of
daffiness, and some references, particularly those that foreshadow the Casson
parents' marital strains, may fly over the heads of young readers. But the
author unerringly dissects the politics of bullying and a family's complicated
layers of love and anger in an often laugh-out-loud narrative that's as chaotic
and lovable as the Casson household itself.

Reader Reviews

Alexandra

GREAT BOOK I enjoyed this book very much. It's just so cool!!
I hope Hilary keeps writing great stories...
;)

Indigo-tom lover

LOVE THIS BOOK!!! Do I even have to explain? This book is incredibly amazing. I've read it twice now and I've memorized half of it. I trully love this book.

Eileen

Hilary McKay's Indigo's Star Indigo's Star is definitely the best book in Hilary McKay's series about the Casson family. It was at once touching and deep and light and humorous and the new character, Tom, is quite a welcome addition who brings out Indigo's enigmatic character. ... Read More

Kara

the book I Thought this book was fantastic even when I wanted to go off and do something else I just kept on pushing myself to read this book and I am once again reading it and this time for me will be the 6th time I have read it and I have also read all the... Read More

Beyond the Book

McKay's first book, The Exiles, was published in 1991
and went on to win The Guardian Children's Fiction Award. It was followed by The
Exiles at Home (1993) which won the Nestlé Smarties Gold Award for the 9-11
years category and the overall winner. Then followed The Exiles in Love
(1996). In 1994 she started on a new trilogy: Dog Friday (1994), The
Amber Cat (1995) and Dolphin Luck (1998).

In 2002 she published Saffy's Angel which won the
Whitbread Children's Book Prize. The sequel, Indigo's Star, was published
in 2004, and Permanent Rose followed in 2005. Caddy Ever After will be published in June this year.

She lives in a small village in Derbyshire (UK) and
enjoys walking, reading...

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